Bookworm Cottage Style

From our cozy green living room to my bold navy office, our home is slowly becoming a vibrant display of color and pattern. The exception to that rule is the primary bedroom, which I envisioned as serene, calming retreat to unwind from the day. In this space, I wanted neutral beige and cream shades to make up the foundation of the room, while color played a smaller, supporting role (mostly in the bedding).

The previous homeowners had the whole house painted a creamy vanilla color which works perfectly well with my vision for the primary suite, so there was no need to repaint. (From the best I can tell, it is Benjamin Moore Vanilla Milkshake.) I absolutely love our existing bed so there were only a few small updates I wanted to make after we moved in: new nightstands, new bedside lighting, and a rug. 

I was considering a few different 3-drawer dressers to use as nightstands, and after having these for about a year and a half, I love them just as much as the day I got them. The old white polka dot nightstand has a new home in our office/guest room and the old black nightstand is in our garage awaiting its turn to be repainted and given a new life in our son’s room. Many designers say that nightstands should be sisters, but not twins. However, the symmetry of the matching bedside tables (and matching sconces) creates a sense of calm and peacefulness that would be hard to achieve otherwise. 

For the lighting, I opted for plug-in wall sconces rather than table lamps because they are easier to operate while lying in bed and because they free up valuable counter space on the nightstand. Plus, these are dimmable which is a nice touch.

While the bedding looks different between the before-and-after photos, I have and use both sets. The red bedding is my fall and winter bedding and the blue bedding is my spring and summer bedding. I am excited to see how the red bedding looks this autumn against our cozy new rug.

The final piece of the puzzle was the rug. Because I swap out our bedding seasonally, I wanted a neutral rug that would work well with both color schemes. After roughly three years of indecision, Sarah Tolzmann posted about this Joon Loloi beauty that she installed in her gorgeous home, and when I followed the link and saw how affordable it was, I knew I found the winner. I got the thick rug pad to put under so that it feels extra plush. 

I can’t believe how only three ingredients (nightstands, lamps, and rug) have completely elevated this room into an intentional, stylish retreat. 

In the future, some finishing touches might include finding cute tissue box covers for our nightstands, replacing a dresser that is out of frame behind me, switching to flat extension cords behind the bed, and perhaps getting some stylish laundry baskets (as our laundry baskets were hidden out of frame for these photos). But for now, let’s call this room finished! 

SOURCES: 

Paint: Benjamin Moore Vanilla Milkshake // Baxton Studio Adelaide Retro Modern Fabric Upholstered Platform Bed // Safavieh Galio 3 Drawer Chest // Joon Loloi Aparna Handwoven Rug // 360 Lighting Valentine Warm Gold Swing Arm Plug-In Wall Lamps // Prominence Home Ashby Modern 52 Inch Ceiling Fan // Anthropologie Quilt and Shams (old, similar) // Pottery Barn Kids Corduroy Cozy Plus Comforter and Shams (old)